Did you know that approximately 23,000 Rhode Islanders, or about 5% of our state's total workforce, are employed by U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-owned corporations? Those figures put Lil' Rhody a strong 11th in the country for the share of workforce supported by U.S. subsidiaries.

This is a good thing. Foreign direct investment provides many economic benefits.

• U.S. affiliates of foreign companies tend to pay higher wages than other U.S. companies. On average, U.S. subsidiaries of foreign firms pay 25 percent higher wages and salaries than that of all U.S. establishments.
• Affiliates of foreign companies (majority-owned) spent nearly $32 billion on research and development in 2005 and $121 billion on plants and equipment.
• U.S. companies use multinationals' distribution networks and knowledge about foreign tastes to export into new markets. Approximately 19 percent of all U.S. exports ($169.2 billion) come from U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies.

So fittingly, last week was a time to celebrate not only our mothers, but also foreign direct investment. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Invest in America Week featured a series of site visits to foreign investor-owned facilities across the United States.

In Rhode Island, the site visit was to the West Kingston headquarters of APC, a subsidiary of French electrical giant, Schneider Electric. Governor Donald L. Carcieri, Laurent Vernerey, APC's President and Chief Executive Officer, Saul Kaplan, Executive Director of the RIEDC, and approximately 40 members of APC's senior management team, were joined by William "Woody" Sutton CAE, U.S. Navy (Ret.), the U.S. Commerce Department Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services.

At the event, CEO Vernerey announced not only APC's decision to stay in Rhode Island, but also their plans to renovate their South Kingston facility at an estimated cost of between $3-4 million. A reflection of our changing economy, the former manufacturing facility today houses over 1,100 employees, many of whom work in software engineering and research and development.

Other notable foreign-owned info-tech companies in Rhode Island include:

• Providence-based GTECH - owned by Italy's Lottomatica
• North Kingston-based Hexagon Metrology - owned by Sweden's Hexagon AB
• Providence-based Simulia, - owned by France's Dassault Systemes

The U.S. Department of Commerce launched Invest in America, the first federal-level U.S. investment promotion effort in a generation, last year. Invest in America coordinates across U.S. Government agencies to promote inward investment and address federal issues that may impede investment. Through Invest in America, the Department of Commerce promotes the United States as the best place in the world to do business and reinforces our nation's unequivocal and long-standing commitment to open investment policies.